China Exports of HSR, Trains, Metro, Tram, Rolling Stocks, etc: News

[JSCh]

Another railway bridge finishes closure along China-Laos Railway
New China TV
Published on Jan 17, 2019

Another railway bridge has completed closure along the 508.5-km Chinese section of the China-Laos railway. The railway is expected to be put into use in December 2021.

 

[JSCh]

Feature: Argentine cargo rail network witnesses great improvements with China's help
Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-18 14:52:16|Editor: ZD

JOAQUIN V. GONZALEZ, Argentina, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's Belgrano Cargas cargo rail lines, a strategic network for the country's agricultural exports, underwent major upgrading thanks to an Argentina-China cooperation project.

With joint efforts from the China Machinery Engineering Corporation and Argentina's state-run Trenes Argentinos, the rails, about some 580 km long, were renovated in about two years with new Chinese-built locomotives and cars incorporated into the system.

The ambitious project aims to revamp a total of 1,700 km of rail lines in the country.

The rest of the lines, which cross the northern provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucuman, Santiago del Estero, Chaco and Santa Fe, will be gradually renovated till April 2020.

"We are motivated by a good future outlook," said Matias Duran, the project's chief engineer, who was excited about the fact that project has also energized communities situated along the lines.

China is actively helping to improve not just the infrastructure of the tracks but also the rolling stock. The effort has significantly increased the country's cargo capacity.

Argentina's cargo rail system is composed of the Belgrano, San Martin and General Urquiza lines. The Belgrano lines alone transported 2 million tons of cargo last year, a 66-percent increase year-on-year, according to figures from the Ministry of Transport of Argentina.

The trains move agricultural goods, including soy, cotton, corn and flour, from the northern breadbasket to the export hub of Rosario, in Santa Fe Province.

In addition to increasing cargo capacity, the renovation work has helped cut down on transport times, with trains designed to reach the speed of up to 90 kilometers per hour.

In 2015, it took the trains 18 days to travel from Salta to Rosario. Today, the time has been cut to eight days.

Project inspector Nicolas Guaymas underscored the importance of the project for Argentina's economic development.

"It's very important because the type of project, once completed, can improve the whole regional economy, the whole northwest of Argentina," said Guaymas.

 

[hiseen]

 

[JSCh]

 

[JSCh]

Malaysian debt cause of rail project halt, not specifically aimed at any country: analyst
By Shen Weiduo Source:Global Times Published: 2019/1/25 23:14:29

Not specifically aimed at any country: analyst

Malaysia's pendant attitude toward the long-halted China-backed East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) was largely due to the Malaysian government's debt burden rather than a move that targeted a specific country, analysts said on Friday.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday that "he was not aware of any decision to cancel the ECRL contract with China Communications Construction Company (CCCC)," refuting a recent report by Singapore-based Strait Times, according to a report from Free Malaysia Today on Thursday.

He said this was one way to address the problem. "If we do so, we will need to pay billions in compensation," according to the report.

A person close to CCCC told the Global Times on Friday that the project was temporarily halted, and the two sides are still discussing the project.

Xu Liping, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday that the long-halted project was largely due to the unsatisfactory financial conditions in the country.

"The decision was hard to make, since even the compensation amount is not a small one for the country, not to mention the amount for the project construction," Xu said.

In August 2018, Mahathir said during a visit to China that the China-backed multibillion-dollar rail link and pipeline projects had been "cancelled for now," since the projects involve huge amounts of money, and Malaysia does not really need them at the moment, considering the high debt burden left by the country's previous government.

The ECRL project is estimated to be worth as much as $20 billion, according to a Reuters report.

"It's not targeted at any particular country. If it was a US project, the Malaysian government would also reconsider it, given its poor financial situation," Chen Fengying, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday.

After taking office in May last year, Mahathir's administration has been reviewing several multi-billion dollar projects approved by the previous government. Malaysia has also deferred the construction of a planned high-speed rail link between Singapore to 2020 in September 2018, which analysts expect to cost around $17 billion, Reuters reported.

However, Chen noted that while it's understandable that the policy would change with the shift in government in Malaysia, China should also conduct a greater risk evaluation before making similar investments in other countries.

Experts also noted that Malaysia should provide full compensation based on the contract if the deal was cancelled; otherwise, it will hurt the credibility of the Malaysian government itself.

"There are many other projects two sides are engaged in, and some projects are urgently needed in Malaysia, such as technology and internet projects. Thus, the two sides will continue to cooperate," Liang Haiming, chairman of the China Silk Road iValley Research Institute, told the Global Times on Friday.

 

[JSCh]

China-Laos railway to complete 90 pct bridge, tunnel construction in 2019
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-14 11:01:49|Editor: xuxin

Li Bingxuan, general manager of the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd. delivers a speech during the China-Laos Railway Construction Working Conference in Vientiane, capital of Laos, Feb. 13, 2019. Over 90 percent of the tendered bridge and tunnel projects of the China-Laos railway will be completed by the end of 2019, the construction company has said. The China-Laos railway has a length 414 km with bridges of 62 km and tunnels of 198 km, linking Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos and capital Vientiane. The operating speed on the route is designed at 160 km per hour. (Xinhua/Zhang Jianhua)

VIENTIANE, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Over 90 percent of the tendered bridge and tunnel projects of the China-Laos railway will be completed by the end of 2019, the construction company has said.

Li Bingxuan, general manager of the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd. (LCRC), said on Wednesday during the China-Laos Railway Construction Working Conference that the construction of the key project under the Belt and Road Initiative is entering the critical and decisive phase in 2019.

The LCRC, the joint venture between China and Laos undertaking the railway's construction and future operation, will continue the work with high quality and efficiency, Li said.

Specifically, the railway's roadbed and bridge projects will be 95 percent complete, while the tunnel projects will be 90 percent complete at the end of 2019, said Li, adding that the building of the base for track laying and railway stations will be started soon.

According to Li, in 2018, the construction of the key and difficult projects and the bottleneck projects of the railway went steadily and smoothly. By the end of 2018, the accumulated investment of the railway had reached 11.8 billion yuan (around 1.7 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 31.5 percent of the total.

The China-Laos railway was promoted by leaders of the two countries as an interconnectivity project under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. The construction of the railway began in December 2016, and the railway is expected to open to traffic in December, 2021.

The China-Laos railway has a length 414 km with bridges of 62 km and tunnels of 198 km, linking Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos and capital Vientiane. The operating speed on the route is designed at 160 km per hour.

 

[JSCh]

Feature: China-constructed urban railway in Vietnam on horizon
Source: Xinhua | 2018-09-21 09:36:34 | Editor: huaxia

Photo taken on Sept. 20, 2018 shows a scene of trial operation of Vietnam's first urban railway in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Xinhua/Ngo Minh Tien)

by Tao Jun, Bui Long

HANOI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's first urban railway, constructed by China Railway Sixth Group Co. Ltd, started its trial operation on Thursday.

The Cat Linh-Ha Dong elevated rail line in Vietnam's Hanoi capital is scheduled to run on a pilot basis for three to six months before commercial operation which is expected to start before lunar new year festival (early February 2019).

Urban railway is a new means of transport in Vietnam, transporting a large number of passengers in a convenient and comfortable way, Nguyen Ngoc Dong, Vietnamese deputy minister of transport, said on Thursday when he took part in checking and supervising its trial operation.

The trial operation is a milestone in the urban railway project before the rail line is put into use, he stated.

"I think that technical aspects will be OK. The only issue is management work, how to build up apparatus, master techniques and procedures needed to operate the rail line, and organize transport connections," the deputy minister said.

Hanoi has a big population, so it should develop at least three urban rail lines and more bus routes to link its urban transport systems, he stated.

Vietnam and China are cooperating to implement some programs and projects on railway development and connection.

"China has developed urban railways very quickly," and the country currently has up to 27,000 km of high-speed railway, accounting for nearly one half of the world's total, the deputy minister said while comfortably sitting in an air-conditioned green train to participate in evaluating its trial operation.

Photo taken in the carriage of Vietnam's first urban railway shows a landscape of Hanoi,Vietnam, on Sept. 20, 2018. (Xinhua/Ngo Minh Tien)

From Thursday, 13 four-carriage trains are scheduled to run on a pilot basis transporting passengers for a total distance of more than 13 km through 12 stations in the three districts of Ha Dong, Thanh Xuan and Dong Da in 30 minutes.

Trains run on both directions and they depart at interval of 10 minutes. Each train stops at each station for one minute.

An air-conditioned train, whose length is some 80m, can accommodate up to 1,000 people. Each carriage is some 19m long, 2.8m wide and 3.8m high.

After taking a short ride, the Vietnamese deputy minister got off the train at Van Quan Station, and entered a control room full of computers and technical boards on its walls.

One of the big boards bears a Vietnamese sentence "Diagram of Electricity Supply System for Urban Railway in Hanoi, Vietnam". Another board features buttons, switches and name tags which say "Escalator", "Anti-fire pump" and "Smoke-discharging fan".

Chinese technicians in the room, mostly handsome guys wearing short-sighted glasses, glued their eyes to computer screens, while Dong and Vietnamese reporters listened to presentations about technical issues.

According to Vu Hong Phuong, vice head of the Cat Linh-Ha Dong railway project management unit, the railway's trial operation is of significance because it ensures safe and sound commercial operation to serve people in the next few months.

"We are checking the smooth combination of equipment in the whole system. We are also completing final steps such as decoration and equipment, including stairways, escalators and elevators," Phuong said.

Regarding personnel for the urban railway, a number of Vietnamese people have been sent to China for training, and others have been trained in Vietnam, Phuong said, noting that they will gradually master relevant technologies and techniques to well manage, operate and maintain the whole railway system.

"The trains' average speed is 35 km per hour," although they can run at twice of that speed, he said, noting that the short distance of some 1 km between two adjacent stations make it hard for trains to travel at their maximum speed.

Inside one train on Thursday, many local reporters were busy taking photos, shooting videos, or livestreaming elevated trains and their trial operations. Major Vietnamese media outlets, including Vietnam News Agency and online newspaper VnExpress posted many nice photos and videos about the trains on the move.

Hu Suojin, commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Vietnam, said Vietnam's first urban railway, constructed by China Railway Sixth Group Co. Ltd using Chinese ODA and Vietnamese reciprocal capital, will help ease transport pressure in Hanoi, contributing to the closer all-round cooperation between the two countries.

Photo taken on Sept. 20, 2018 shows a scene of trial operation of Vietnam's first urban railway in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Xinhua/Wang Di)

In August, during a test run of Cat Linh-Ha Dong rail line, many Vietnamese people were invited to board trains. They were eager to see designated areas for people with mobility disabilities. Seats for the elderly, pregnant women and children are highlighted in yellow color, while steel holders are there to make sure safe positions for standing passengers.

"The train is clean and cool. Unlike roads with traffic lights and frequent congestions below, it runs fairly fast and smoothly. I hope more urban rail routes like this will be built in Hanoi and other localities," Nguyen Anh Duc, an 11th-grade student of Cao Ba Quat High School in Hanoi's Gia Lam district, told Xinhua.

Duc, whose father works as a driver for the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway project, said he is studying hard to be admitted to the Automobile Technology Faculty of the Hanoi University of Industry.

"I want to develop advanced vehicles for both personal use and mass transport. I do not want people to think that going on roads in Hanoi is a nightmare. I want daily trips are relaxing," the young man boasted, grinning from ear to ear.

Chinese contractor of Hanoi metro line wants official launch in April
By Doan Loan February 15, 2019 | 09:11 am GMT+7

Two Cat Linh-Ha Dong trains leave the station in Hanoi during a trial run in September 2018. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

The Chinese company building the long-delayed Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line in Hanoi wants it to begin commercial operations in April.

China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd. has called for concluding the months-long testing phase by the end of the first quarter to begin operations in April, according to the Ministry of Transport.

--> Chinese contractor of Hanoi metro line wants official launch in April - VnExpress International

 

[JSCh]

BYD speeds up monorail mass transit system
By Guo Rong | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-08-21 09:39

The interior of the carriage of the SkyRail test line is seen at the headquarters of BYD in Shenzhen，South China’s Guangdong province, Aug 20, 2018. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

New energy carmaker BYD is speeding up to expand the market for its SkyRail monorail mass transit system to solve problems such as traffic congestion and air pollution.

After five years of research and development costing 5 billion yuan ($783 million), BYD launched its first commercial SkyRail line in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on Sept 1, and was upgraded to automatic driving last year.

The company has signed several domestic and international deals, including in the Philippines, Egypt, Brazil, Morocco and Cambodia.

BYD's director of President's Office Li Wei said the straddle-type monorail requires only one-fifth of the building cost and one-third of the construction time compared with a subway system.

Its one-way transportation capacity is 10,000 to 30,000 passengers each hour, she added.

With its concept of technology-based and innovation-oriented, BYD suggested to build a multi-dimensional transportation system to remove transportation from ground level and develop either overhead or underground transportation.

The SkyRail features BYD's proprietary iron-phosphate batteries, autonomous driving technology, small turning radius, low noise and a short time construction frame.

Passengers wait to board a monorail train of SkyRail in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on Sept 1, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

The rail transit is now one of BYD's four key sectors, which also include electronics, automobile and new energy.

BYD’s new energy vehicles have landed in more than 200 cities across 50 countries and regions.

Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in 2013, the pace of BYD's globalization has been significantly accelerated, Li said.

In recent years, BYD has set up factories in the United States, Latin America and Asia Pacific countries, and its investment has been fully expanded, Li added.

BYD has 220,000 employees worldwide, 33 industrial parks at home and abroad, and has production bases in many countries including the United States, Brazil, Japan and India.

BYD is one of the leading companies located in Pingshan district of Shenzhen.

The district is located in the southeast end of " Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Corridor ", with new energy (automobile) industry base, biological industry base, new industrialization demonstration base, export processing zones as four state-level signs.

It formed the industrial cluster including new energy (cars), biological medicine, and new generation of information technology and intelligent manufacturing as three leading industries.

BYD signs deal to build cross-sea monorail in Brazil
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-15 07:09:53|Editor: Shi Yinglun

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese leading electric vehicle maker BYD has signed a deal to start building its SkyRail in Salvador, Brazil, according to a release of BYD North America on Thursday.

The 20-kilometer-long seaside route will be partially built above the sea to connect Salvador's central business district to Sao Joao Island, with a capacity of 150,000 passengers per day. It will be connected to the city subway, providing seamless transportation for the city of 2.9 million residents, according to the release.

The project will be the first of its kind for BYD in Latin America and will become part of the city's Light Vehicle Transport System (VLT), which is slated to begin construction within six months and be fully operational by 2021.

"With the VLT, the suburban population will have a fast, comfortable mode of transport that also opens space for the development of the city," said Governor of Bahia State Rui Costa.

"New business will develop and we will attract enterprises to build commercial, residential, leisure and job-generating facilities. From a new transportation system, we will also have opportunities for growth," he said.

BYD would bring its cutting-edge transport solutions to Brazil's third-largest city, which urgently needs adequate public transport to support its growing population, said Stella Li, senior vice president of BYD Company Limited and President of BYD Motors Inc.

"SkyRail is a zero emissions and autonomous mode of transport, offering some of the best technologies available to Salvador. In addition, this will also recreate urban areas as well as generate development in the region," he added.

Launched in October 2016 after five years of research and development worth 5 billion yuan (740 million U.S. dollars), the SkyRail features an automated driving system of the highest level, according to BYD. It is currently operational in the western Chinese city of Yinchuan.

 

[JSCh]

CRRC Gets Second Order to Ship Double-Decker Trains to Sydney
TANG SHIHUA
DATE : FEB 20 2019/SOURCE : YICAI

CRRC Gets Second Order to Ship Double-Decker Trains to Sydney​

(Yicai Global) Feb. 20 -- A unit under the world's largest rolling stock manufacturer, China's CRRC, has received a second order from Sydney for its double-decker trains.

CRRC Changchun Railway and Australian partner Downer EDI have been contracted to design and manufacture 17 new trains and provide post-delivery maintenance, state-backed China News Service reported, citing a statement from the CRRC arm. The firm did not disclose the deal's worth.

The two partners landed their first order for 24 of the two-story rolling stock in December 2016, and have shipped a total 732 passenger trains to Australia to date. The vehicles have stood the tests of time and have been well received by the country's local governments and passengers, which helped them land the latest contract, the statement added.

CRRC Changchun is China's primary developer of railway passenger trains. It set up its Asia Pacific headquarters and a rolling stock engineering research base in Melbourne in 2017 to provide technical support for projects in the region.

 

[JSCh]

Feature: Chinese railway company in Chicago helps rejuvenate local community
Source: Xinhua | 2019-03-08 02:31:53 | Editor: huaxia

A new Orange Line train manufactured by China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) is pictured at Wellington Yard in Medford, a residential and industrial suburb of Boston, the United States, on May 15, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

by Xinhua writers Xu Jing, Miao Zhuang

CHICAGO, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The 21 newly hired workers appeared excited as they stood in a spacious 20,000-square-meter building belonging to China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) Sifang America in the southern suburbs of Chicago.

They will leave Chicago on Friday for China to receive a month of training.

Most knew little about China until CRRC Sifang America won a 1.3-billion-U.S.-dollar contract in 2016 to supply railcars to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), and began to construct a factory in their neighborhood. Now they are members of the Chinese facility.

Before working for CRRC, 52-year-old Nestor Torres had worked as an electrician with a local company for 25 years. At CRRC, he will be an electrical foreman and will receive training for railcar installation in the city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province, where CRRC is headquartered.

"I've never been to China, [it's] going to be exciting," Torres said. "We're very good learners and fast learners."

Ceasar Rodriguez lives just 10-minute drive from the CRRC Chicago facility. "To master how to build the rail cars for CRRC, that would be my goal," the 38-year-old told Xinhua.

Rodriguez expects to grow within the CRRC, and said the hiring process wasn't easy. "There are a lot of requirements."

A lifelong local resident, Rodriguez knows his community well.

"This part of Chicago is an old area. It's been pretty desolate for quite a while, for a few decades," Rodrigue said. "With CRRC being here, it's kind of uplifted the community by bringing in so many jobs here."

The southern suburbs of Chicago used to be a hub for manufacturing. But with manufacturing jobs moving overseas, it has been more than 30 years since the last railcar was produced here and over 50 years since CTA's railcars were produced in Chicago.

Roman Delion, who also joins the facility, believes CRRC will ramp up production after testing a few cars. "We're going to do a massive higher, so they're going to be doing a lot of hiring within the year and after. So the residents in this neighborhood should have priority for hiring."

He added: "Since they're here, other companies are coming as well, other bigger companies. The economy's going to start growing and people are going to get jobs."

The 42-year-old is also vice president of the Chamber of Commerce in the community working to bring business in. "I'm really involved in my community and trying to get it to grow and trying to help all the young people to get good jobs like this."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who clinched the CRRC deal, said he had no idea what this facility would look like when sat down negotiating. "It far surpasses anything I could've ever imagined."

"CTA cars built by Chicagoans for Chicagoans in Chicago will be the new rule of the day from now on," he said proudly. "We're bringing manufacturing jobs (back to Chicago) and I want to thank the partnership."

"Having CRRC come here is exciting," said Andrea Zopp, president and CEO of World Business Chicago, "not only because we're bringing railcar manufacturing back to the south side of Chicago, but because we're creating real jobs and economic opportunity for really not only great jobs, but training."

"That economic opportunity here is critically important to all of our residents," Zopp added.

Statistics provided by Consulate General of China in Chicago show that more than 60 Chinese enterprises have either invested or launched enterprises in Chicago since 2011, with an accumulated investment exceeding three billion U.S. dollars, creating tens of thousands of jobs for local residents.

Both Torres and Rodriguez expressed interest in learning mandarin when in China. "I would like to pick it up, so I could communicate with those who work here" and come from China, Rodriguez said.

Delion has never been outside of the United States and takes this opportunity for training in China as "one in a million." He wants to see the Great Wall and Beijing. "I just want to experience everything. I don't want to do nothing western out there," Delion said. "I want to do China, you know, the full experience."

 

[JSCh]

Chinese-S. Korean joint venture wins 408-mln-USD contract from UAE's Etihad Rail
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-13 04:30:49|Editor: yan

DUBAI, March 12 (Xinhua) -- A joint Chinese-South Korean venture has been awarded a contract by the Etihad Rail in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Chinese company said in a statement Tuesday.

The joint venture is between China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East (CSCEC ME) and South Korea's SK Engineering and Construction (SK E&C).

The CSCEC ME said in a statement that it and SK E&C will jointly work on the 139-km Package A of Etihad Rail's 605-km Stage 2, which will connect Ruwais with Ghuweifat on the UAE border with Saudi Arabia.

The scope of work includes designing and building, civil and track works for Package A under the contract, which is valued at 408 million U.S. dollars.

Package A's focus includes the design and construction of rail infrastructure, including earthworks, bridges, tunnels, animal crossings, track-laying, and links to Stage 1 of Etihad Rail.

Etihad Rail's CEO Shadi Malak signed the contract with CSCEC ME's President and CEO Yu Tao and SK E&C's Vice President Hyuntae Nam.

Commenting on the contract, Sheikh Theyab bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of Abu Dhabi Executive Council and chairman of Etihad Rail, said that the commencement of the first phase of Stage 2 means "we are reaching a major turning point in the transportation sector in the UAE and GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)."

"Pioneering and innovative, this initial link is just the beginning, as Etihad Rail expands its network to improve all aspects of freight transport across our border and around the region, placing the UAE at the centre of regional goods movement as a global logistics hub," he said.

 

[JSCh]

First major tunnel over 5,000 meters drilled through along China-Laos railway
Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-21 12:51:40|Editor: xuxin

Photo taken on March 21, 2019 shows the drilling-through ceremony of Boten Tunnel along the China-Laos railway in Boten of Laos. A Chinese railway engineering company on Thursday drilled through Boten Tunnel, the first major tunnel over 5,000 meters along the China-Laos railway. This marks an important milestone in the construction of the project. The Boten Tunnel, with a length of 6453.5 meters, is among the 10 major tunnels longer than five km along the China-Laos Railway. The tunnel has to pass through unfavorable geology such as karst, bedding rock, fault fracture zone, gypsum, carbon mudstone, and water inrush, and it varies, thus creating lots of difficulties to the Chinese engineering company, China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group (CREC-5). (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

BOTEN, Laos, March 21 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese railway engineering company on Thursday drilled through Boten Tunnel, the first major tunnel over 5,000 meters along the China-Laos railway.

This marks an important milestone in the construction of the project. The Boten Tunnel, with a length of 6453.5 meters, is among the 10 major tunnels longer than five km along the China-Laos Railway.

Khamsouk Bounyavong, vice president of Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee's Inspection Committee, and Ju Guojiang, chairman of the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd, the joint venture in charge of the construction and the operation of the railway, attended the drilling-through ceremony in Boten on Thursday.

The tunnel has to pass through unfavorable geology such as karst, bedding rock, fault fracture zone, gypsum, carbon mudstone, and water inrush, and it varies, thus creating lots of difficulties to the Chinese engineering company, China Railway No. 5 Engineering Group (CREC-5).

The Boten Tunnel was selected to be built as a high-quality demonstration model for the railway project. Since March 2017 when the construction started, the Chinese engineers have strictly implemented the managing requirements of mechanization, industrialization, informatization and profession.

The CREC-5 strengthened the on-site safety and quality control and extensively applied tunnel construction kits, vigorously carried out scientific and technological research, actively promoted the application of new technologies, and paid close attention to process management so as to ensure the safe and orderly advancement of tunnel construction, and lay a solid foundation for the Thursday's victorious breakthrough.

The China-Laos Railway is a strategic docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.

The 414.332-km railway runs from Mohan-Boten border gate in northern Laos to the capital of Vientiane within an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

The electrified passenger and cargo railway is built with the full application of Chinese management standards and technical standards

The project started in December 2016 and is scheduled to be completed and opened to traffic in December 2021.

Lao girls pose for pictures at the drilling-through ceremony of Boten Tunnel along the China-Laos railway in Boten of Laos, March 21, 2019.

 

[JSCh]

ECRL to proceed at smaller scale, lower cost
KONG SEE HOH /
07 APR 2019 / 17:11 H.

The original proposed route for the ECRL on March 8, 2017. The new route has yet to be revealed. — Bernama

FOLLOWING months of negotiations, Malaysia and China have reached an agreement to resume the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, which was suspended last July.

It will be carried out on a smaller scale, and at a lower cost with some changes to the route, Sin Chew Daily reported today.

The daily learnt that the cost of the project, which was originally tagged at RM66 billion, will be slashed by more than RM10 billion.

A well-placed source told the daily that what the two parties had arrived at was a win-win solution as the re-negotiated project includes new commercial elements, which will bring about greater benefits to local entrepreneurs and people.

It is learnt that an agreement will be signed prior to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s visit to China at the end of this month, marking the resumption of the project.

The source said Council of Eminent Persons chairman Tun Daim Zainuddin, who is representing Malaysia in the negotiations, will fly to Beijing soon to sign the agreement.

Mahathir is scheduled to visit China from April 24 to 28 at the invitation of Chinese premier Xi Jinping to attend the second Belt and Road Initiative summit.

It is understood that Mahathir will address the summit and emphasise Malaysia’s support for the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to the report, environmental considerations are the main reason that changes will be made to the ECRL route.


https://www.thesundaily.my/local/ecrl-to-proceed-at-smaller-scale-lower-cost-ED764798

 

[JSCh]

Sri Lanka conducts test run on China-funded southern railway line
Source: Xinhua| 2019-01-07 12:30:51|Editor: Liangyu


COLOMBO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan Ministry of Transporton on Sunday conducted a test run along the newly constructed railway line between Matara and Beliatta in the south of the island country which will boost passenger traffic.

The 26.75 km long Matara-Beliatta railway extension was financed by the Exim Bank of China and the contract was awarded to China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation.

A major portion of the construction was carried out by China Railway Group 5 (CR5) and the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB) which acted as the consultant.

Sri Lanka's Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Arjuna Ranatunga, speaking at a ceremony before conducting the test run, said that the railway line is the first to be constructed in Sri Lanka since 1948 and it includes the longest and second longest railway bridges of 1.5 km and 1.04 km, respectively.

The railway line also includes one of the tallest railway bridges, the longest railway tunnel and the most modern railway station buildings in the country.

Ranatunga said he was hoping to officially inaugurate the railway line and open it to the public before the local Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April.

The new railway line is expected to increase traffic into the south and boost trade between capital Colombo and the deep south.

17:05, 08-Apr-2019
Sri Lanka's first new railway in nearly 100 years starts operation
Wu Lei

The first new railway line in Sri Lanka for nearly 100 years, the Matara-Kataragama Railway Extension Project (Phase 1), officially started operating on Monday. .

Sri Lanka's first new railway in a century has been inaugurated. /Photo provided by China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC).

The project will open a new chapter for the development of southern Sri Lanka where the infrastructure is generally poor. More and more local people are expected to take the train to go to work, study or to the beach. The lives of local people will change significantly.

The railway will significantly benefit local communities.

The 113km railway line from Matara to Kataragama is to be completed in three phases and the Matara to Beliatta segment is the first phase of the project. The second phase is the 48km segment from Beliatta to Hambantota and the third phase another 39km covering Hambantota and Kataragama.

This new railway is part of the Belt and Road Initiative. /CMC photo

The railway project, part of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative,started in 2013. It is being carried out at a cost of 278 million U.S. dollars by the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) with the funding from China Exim Bank. The construction supervision was done under the guidance of the Sri Lankan Central Engineering Bureau.

Aerial view of the phase one of the railway in southern Sri Lanka. /CMC photo

 

[JSCh]

ECRL to proceed at smaller scale, lower cost
KONG SEE HOH /
07 APR 2019 / 17:11 H.

The original proposed route for the ECRL on March 8, 2017. The new route has yet to be revealed. — Bernama

FOLLOWING months of negotiations, Malaysia and China have reached an agreement to resume the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, which was suspended last July.

It will be carried out on a smaller scale, and at a lower cost with some changes to the route, Sin Chew Daily reported today.

The daily learnt that the cost of the project, which was originally tagged at RM66 billion, will be slashed by more than RM10 billion.

A well-placed source told the daily that what the two parties had arrived at was a win-win solution as the re-negotiated project includes new commercial elements, which will bring about greater benefits to local entrepreneurs and people.

It is learnt that an agreement will be signed prior to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s visit to China at the end of this month, marking the resumption of the project.

The source said Council of Eminent Persons chairman Tun Daim Zainuddin, who is representing Malaysia in the negotiations, will fly to Beijing soon to sign the agreement.

Mahathir is scheduled to visit China from April 24 to 28 at the invitation of Chinese premier Xi Jinping to attend the second Belt and Road Initiative summit.

It is understood that Mahathir will address the summit and emphasise Malaysia’s support for the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to the report, environmental considerations are the main reason that changes will be made to the ECRL route.


https://www.thesundaily.my/local/ecrl-to-proceed-at-smaller-scale-lower-cost-ED764798

ECRL is up and running again
Saturday, 13 Apr 2019
beh yuen hui and mazwin nik anis

BEIJING: It is confirmed – Malaysia has managed to bring down the construction cost of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project by RM21.5bil, which is almost a third of the original cost.

The new price is set at RM44bil now, down 32.8% from the previous RM66bil.

Tun Daim Zainuddin, who led the negotiations with China, said the latest cost estimate was far more manageable for the government.

“It will also require a smaller loan from Exim Bank, which will further reduce the interest to be paid,” he told Malaysian journalists at the Malaysian Embassy here yesterday.

With the new price tag, the construction cost for the project is now at RM68mil per km, against RM98mil per km originally.

Earlier yesterday, Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd and China Communications Construction Company Ltd signed a supplementary agreement to pave the way for the resumption of the suspended project.

The agreement also saw slight changes to the route from Kota Baru in Kelantan to Port Klang in Selangor, with the length cut by 40km to 648km.

“It will still be double-tracking,” said Daim, who is the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister.

The realigned route will see the rail track diverted to Negri Sembilan from Mentakab in Pahang, bypassing Bentong in Pahang and Gombak in Selangor as planned earlier.

“It will start in Kota Baru, then to Mentakab, Jelebu and Kuala Klawang in Negri Sembilan, continue on to Bangi, Kajang, Putrajaya and end in Port Klang,” he said, without elaborating on the changes.

He said construction would commerce as soon as possible with the new date of completion reset to 2026, a two-year delay from the project planned originally.

Daim, who is also chairman of the Council of Eminent Persons, added that it had been agreed that 40% of the sub-contractors for the project would be Malaysians.

Negotiations on the loan and interest rate were still ongoing, he said.

“Now that the cost is lower, the loan will also be lower,” he said.

Daim declined to reveal more details, saying that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will address a press conference on the ECRL on Monday.

China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said his government was glad to see the issue being settled through friendly negotiation.

He said China and Malaysia were good neighbours and partners, which viewed each other’s friendship with importance.

Lu Kang said China hoped to see the project recommence soon.

In Putrajaya, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) confirmed the latest details involving the ECRL.

“The signing was achieved after months of negotiations between the companies involved as well as the governments of Malaysia and China.

“This reduction (in cost) will surely benefit Malaysia and lighten the burden of the country’s financial position,” it said in a statement yesterday.

The PMO said the supplementary agreement covered the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning aspects of the ECRL.

It confirmed that Dr Mahathir would address the media at 11am on Monday.

The original 688km ECRL proposal comprised Phase 1, stretching from the Klang Valley to Kuantan.

Phase 2 is from Kuantan to Kuala Terengganu and Phase 3 connecting Kuala Terengganu to Kota Baru and Tumpat.

The Pakatan Harapan government suspended the ECRL project after winning the general election last year.


https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/04/13/ecrl-is-up-and-running-again/#x2qJ5xb1Vx80WE20.99